Wednesday, 27 June 2012

After weeks of speculation, Olivier Giroud has finally put pen to paper on a contract with Arsenal, joining the club officially on a four year contract for a fee in the region of £12m.

The wrapping up of the forwards signing took place within 48 hours of France returning from the European Championships and Giroud has now left London for a couple of weeks holiday before returning to London Colney for pre-season.

"We are delighted to have secured the signing of Olivier Giroud. He has a very good physical presence and is exceptional in the air, with a great work ethic.

"We are excited about Olivier joining us and he will add an additional dimension to our attacking options next season.

"He has proved that he is capable of performing at the top level with club and country, and we saw what a big influence he was in Montpellier’s championship-winning side last season.

"We all look forward to Olivier joining us and seeing him play in an Arsenal shirt."

I know the day and age when there is 24 hour media you can lose enjoyment of a player signing for our club, I'm genuinely excited about the Frenchman's move to north London. Maybe it's because I know little about him or what to expect from him.

But signing both Giroud and Lukas Podolski before pre-season training begins is a sign in the right direction. We've established our targets and are going after them. And two have brought in two international strikers who have both had fantastic domestic seasons last term with a decent goal return, is good business for us. Especially if the worst happens and we lose Robin van Persie.

It was interesting to hear that Giroud had an offer from Chelsea, but he turned it down to move to north London. It seems that Laurent Koscielny also had an influence on the 25-year-old moving to London.

He said:

"I think there is a good spirit here and that is another reason why I chose this club. I am confident in the potential of the group and I am convinced that in the future, hopefully next season, we can win something.

"It is difficult in England because there are so many big teams, but that is what gives it its charm, that is what makes it beautiful. It is the hardest league and it won’t be easy to impose myself, but I am confident."

The stability of the squad is what's important and keeping hold of our best players this summer. We know that the club have got to turn their attentions to the re-signing of Robin and Theo Walcott now. As well as moving on the players who did not make a real contribution last season.

Last night journalist Ian McGarry claimed that Robin had already agreed to join Manchester City in a deal worth £220k a week and the move to the north west could be completed in the next four weeks. The only thing which hadn't been agreed on is a fee for our captain.

Now you have to take everything McGarry says with a large pinch of salt. He's got a lot of things wrong in the past - Harry for England anyone? But what he's saying does ring true with a lot of things I've heard behind the scenes.

I believe that Robin will leave the club this summer. He's been made an exceptional offer by City, one which we cannot match. I hope I'm proved wrong and he signs a new deal with Arsenal but I fear the worst.

If Robin is to leave the club have got to get the most amount of money they can for him and then reinvest that money into the squad.

With Arsene Wenger's interest in Yann M'Vila cooling and with a top class midfielder a priority, I really think we need to go out and do a deal for Javi Martinez if Wenger has not liked what he's seen in M'Vila's involvement in the France camp.

If not Martinez, I'm sure there are others on the radar who would suit our style of play. Whilst it would be ideal to have whatever midfield player we decide to bring in with us for pre-season, I can see the manager waiting until the end of the window to do a deal.

It's great that we've done well so far in the transfer window, but we shouldn't rest on our laurels.